Sheet cutting machine



June 16, 1931. G. SPIESS SHEET CUTTING MACHINE Filed April 14, 1927 /nventor:

Patented June. 16, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORG SPIESS, OF LEIIBZIG-IPLAGWITZ, GERMANY SHEET comma mom Application filed April 14, 1927, Serial No. 183,746, and in Germany April 24, 1926.

web is examined by the operator before being cut and the grading appliance, which is normally set for the good pile, is switched for the bad pile if a defect in the Web is discovered.

Appliances of this type as heretofore con structed involve the drawback that the station of the operator is at some distance from the blade which severs the sheets, and consequently the defective sheets will not be severed immediately after the defect has been discovered, but will move through the machine a certain distance which may be equal to the length of two sheets, or more or less before they are severed. Obviously the switch for the grading appliance must not be operated before the defective sheet has attained the proper position below the cutting blade, and therefore in the old system the operator must follow a defective sheet until it has I moved into the proper position at the cutting station, and then operate the switch and this is not-quite easy on account of the distance between the operators and the cutting station.

It is an object of my invention-to overcome this drawback and to this end I provide means by which the switch for the grading appliance lags with respect to its operating mechanism for a period corresponding to the distance through which the defective sheet is fed until the line along which it is severed is in proper position below the blade.

In the drawings aflixed to this specification and forming part thereof a paper cutting machine equipped with a grading appliance according to my invention is illustrated diagrammatically by way of example.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation, partly in section, of a machine equipped with mechanical operating means,

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating part of the operating means,

Fig. 3vis a section on the line III-III in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a section on the line IVIV in Fig. 1, drawn to a larger scale.

Referring now to the drawings, a is the frame of the cutting machine the driving mechanism of which has not been fully illustrated as it forms no part of the present invention. 3 is the main driving shaft to which rotation is'imparted by any suitable means, not shown, and which is so connected with the feed rollers b, 0, of the machine that'the web 18 which is taken from a supply 17' is. moved through a distance equal to one length of a sheet for each revolution of the shaft 3. II is the inspection station where, the sheet is viewed by the operator in the light of incandescent lamps 20 in a box 19 arranged below the sheet.

The lever 29 by which the operator controls the switch 5 is arranged at a distance equal to two lengths of a sheet from the cutting station O, but this distance may be more or less, as desired. Consequently the dis tance III and the distance IO' are equal to each other and to one length of a sheet and it will be understood that the line where the defective sheet must be severed will ar rive at the cutting station after the shaft 3 has performed three revolutions. The defective sheet is now intercepted by the switch 5', severed by the blade 1, and delivered to a conveyer d which conducts it to the bad pile on aplate 7 at the rear end of the ma chine. In the position of the switch 5 illustrated in Fig. 1 it has been assumed that the sheet which has passed the inspection station II three revolutions ago, is good and P notched at f and resilient means, not shown,

are provided for holding the roller at'the end of the lever e engaged with the edge of the plate 4. When the notch f arrives below the roller, the lever 6 will cause the blade 1 to descend and to sever the sheet at the end of the web. Immediately afterwards the a roller rises again onto the edge of the cam plate 4 and returns the blade 1 to its initial position as shown in Fig. 1.

8 is a link connecting the switch 5 with one end of a bell-crank lever 10 which is fulcrumed in the frame at 9 and connected with a pull-back spring 16. A roller 11 is carried in that arm of the lever 10 which is engaged by the link 8, and 12 is another cam plate on the shaft 3 provided with a projection by which the roller 11 is engaged under certain conditions, as will be described. Normally, however, the lever 10 is locked by an abutment 15 at one end of a bell-crank lever 14 which is fulcrumed on the frame a at x 13 and provided with a pull-back spring g.

A striker 30 is secured on the pin 13 of the bell-crank lever 14 and the spring 9 normally holds the striker 30 against the edge of a hollow disc 23 which is free to rotate on a horizontal rod 21 in the frame a. The disc 23 is rotated at the same speed as the shaft 3 through the medium of sprockets and a chain 22. 24 is a pawl which is adapted to slide in a notch in the rim of the disc 23. 32 is a spring catch which is adapted to engage notches 33 and 34in the pawl 24 under the action of a spring 31. In Fig. 4 the pawl 24 is shown in its outermost position, with the catch 32 engaging the notch 34. 35 is a sleevein connection with a cam 25 adapted to be displaced on the rod 21 by means of the handle 29 through the medium of a bar 27 which is adapted to reciprocate in the frame a and a strike rod 28 the fork-shaped end of which engages a groove in the boss of the cam 25. A spring 26 which is secured to the strike rod 28 at one end and anchored in the frame a at the other. holds the boss of the strike rod 28 engaged with an abutment 7:. on the rod 21 and in this position the\ cam 25 is outside the hollow disc 23 as will appear from Fig. 2, the pawl 24 is inoperative and its outer end is held flush with the periphery of the disc 23 by means of the striker 30 past which the pawl 24 moves once for each revolution of th disc.

Under normal conditions, that is, when the operator at the inspection station II does not find a defect in the web as it moves past the lamps 20 the bell-crank lever 10 will remain locked by the bell-crank lever 14 as the pawl 24 is in its retracted position, the switch 5 will be in its normal position and each sheet which is severed by the blade 1 will be deposited on the good pile 6.

When the operator discovers a defect at the inspection station II he will pull out the handle 29 as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 and thereby will move the cam 25 into the hollow space of the disc 23. As the disc rotates continuously the inner end of the pawl will come into contact with the cam 25 after the pawl has moved past the striker 30 and thepawl will now be displaced radially so that its outer end projects into the reach of the horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever 14. When it strikes the end of the bell-crank lever its end 15 releases the bell-crank lever 10 and the switch 5'is deflected. In the meantime the defective sheet has arrived at the cutting station 0 and is severed from the web 18 whereupon the switch 5 delivers it to the conveyer a) and in due course to the bad pile on the plate 7. When the handle 29 is released, the spring 26 pulls the cam 25 out .of the hollow disc 23 into the normal position illustrated in Fig. 2 and when the pawl 24 moves past the striker 30 it will be returned to its normal position so that it becomes inoperative, nor will it be influenced by the cam 25 on its further rotation as the cam has been retracted from the hollow disc. The roller 11 of the bell-crank lever 10 is held engaged with the cam plate 12 on the shaft 3 until the projection of the cam plate lifts the roller and returns the switch 5 into its elevated position, allowing the sheets to move to the good pile 6. The bell-crank lever 10, on being thus lifted, will be intersected and locked by the end 15 of the bell-crank lever, 14 so that the switch 5 is held in its normal position.

It will be understood that I am not limited to a machine in which the distance between the inspection station II and the cutting station 0 is equal to two lengths of a sheet but that any suitable distance may be provided without departingfrom my invention.

It will be understood that by the lagging operation described the work of the operator is much facilitated as he is able to throw in the lever 29 immediately he notices a defect, and need not follow the sheet through the machine.

Generally speaking, I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim I 1. A sheet cutting machinepomprising a driving shaft, means for conducting the sheets to separate piles according to their quality, mechanism for operating said con ducting means, hand-operated means for placing said mechanism in condition to actuate said conducting means, a cam plate on said driving shaft, a rocking lever operative ly connected with said conducting means on the one hand, and with said cam plate on the other hand, means for locking said rocking lever against operation from said'cam plate, a rotary disc operatively connected with said driving shaft, a pawl carried on said rotary disc and adapted to cooperate with said looking means, hand-operated means for placing said pawl into active position with respect to said locking means, and automatic means for returning it into its inactive position, the motion of'said rotary disc being so timed with respect to that of said driving shaft, that the motion of said conductive means lags with respect to that of said driving means 7 2. A sheet cutting machine comprising a driving shaft, means for conducting the sheets to separate piles according to their quality, mechanism for operating said condetent, hand-operated means for placing said pawl into active position with respect to said arm, and a striker on said detent adapted to engage said pawl after it has movedpast said 5 In testimony whereof I 'afiix my signature. 7

eEoRe SPIESS,

ducting means, hand-operated means for V placing said mechanism'in condition to' actuate said conducting means, a cam plate on said driving shaft, a rocking lever operatively connected with said conducting means on the one hand, and with said cam plate on the other hand, means for locking-said rocking lever against operation from said cam plate, a rotary disc operatively connected with said driving shaft, a pawl carried on said rotary disc and adapted to cooperate'with said looking means, hand-operated means for placing said pawl into active position with respect to said locking means, a fixed cam adapted to be displaced in parallel relation with respect to the axis of said rotary disc and to place said pawl intooperative position with respect to said locking means, a handle for controlling said cam, and automatic means for returning said pawl into its inactive position, themotion of said rotary disc being so timed with respect to that of said driving shaft, that the motion of said conductive means lags with respect to that of said drivmg means. 7

3. A sheet cutting machine comprising a driving shaft, means for conducting the sheets to separate piles according to their quality, mechanism for operating said conducting means, hand-operated means for placing said mechanism in conditionto actu-' ate said conducting means, a cam plate on said driving shaft, a rocking lever operatively con1iected with said conducting means on r the one hand, and with said cam plate on the other hand, a detent for locking said rocking lever against operation from said cam plate, a rotary disc operatively connected with said drivingshaft, an arm on said detent, a pawl carried on said rotary disc and adapted to cooperate with said arm so as to release said 

